Chris Forsberg on Rondo's defense

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Schroeder made six field goals. Rondo was the primary defender on him of three. And of the three, the only one Rondo made a mistake on was when he fell asleep on a back door cut off a hand-off. On the other two, Schroeder made a difficult fade and on the other, Rondo ICEd a PnR and Olynyk hung back but then fouled Schroeder as he made the shot.

Rondo's been bad in front of the ball in pretty much every game, but he was hardly the problem today.

Thank you for an actual real description of Schroeder's scoring.  I didn't see the game, but that kind of cools the exaggeration of Schroeder 'toasting' / 'destroying' rondo.  bleh...lol
TP for you.

[BballTim]

I have a problem investing heavy money on a soon to be 29 year-old. If he's allowing dribble penetration now, what will he look at on a 5 year deal between the ages of 29-34?

  All point guards allow dribble penetration.

Just like all point guards miss free throws...Rondo at a a higher rate than others in both though.

   Ok, so how high is Rondo's rate of allowing dribble penetration, and how does it compare to other point guards?

What do your eyes tell you?

  Pretty much that you make things up without having much of an idea (if any) whether they're true or not. I missed last night's game but I just watched much of it on the dvr, checking Rondo's defense. He spent most of the first half guarding Teague, who was largely ineffective. He rarely got into the lane, and mainly did off of picks. He beat Rondo off the dribble once to get into the lane. He got into the lane as often against Bradley as he did against Rondo, even though Rondo was covering him 3-4 times as much as Bradley was.

   The second half seemed similar. He got beat off the dribble a couple of times, and players he was guarding didn't get into the lane that often, and when they did it was generally off of picks. He didn't do any worse of a job of keeping the guy he was guarding out of the lane than any of the other Celts guards, or any of the Hawk guards. Overall I'd say that guys he was covering scored 4 or so baskets and players he switched off of on pick plays scored a couple more. He had some turnover issues, but his defense wasn't really a problem. It was worse earlier this year but it's been better recently.

  Again, though, how does that compare to other point guards? How often do players get into the lane when they play against Paul, Parker, Lowry or Deron? How many of those times are from picks, and how often do those guys get beat off the dribble? How about Conley, Curry or Lillard? I generally judge how well Rondo does in terms of allowing dribble penetration by comparing how often he gets into the lane to how often the guy he's guarding does, and on the occasion that I watch non-Celts games I just generally notice it in terms of the players doing overly well or poorly in defending their opponents.

[knuckleballer]

Forsberg has a good point, but I think the slip in his defense is mostly due to a lack of effort.  KG never would have allowed such lackluster effort.  In Rondo's defense, he has to pace himself because he would just get hurt too often if he was constantly giving 100% due to his small size.  But he has been taking it too easy.  I suspect if he was on a better team, you would see more effort out of him and he would look like his old self on defense.

[spikelovetheCelts]

Rondo's d is not the problem. He Covered Teague great. They had to go with Schroder. He is a great 3. 85 quarter guard but he can't score and to win we need a point guard who can hit a shot. rebounds and assists look great in the box score but with no closer like PP, KG or Ray the Celts are 20 win team. Jeff Green did get a good look to tie and he may raise to the occassion. Sullinger shoot threes at the end of the game is not going to help either. Plus make the safe pass when you are behind in the 4th Rondo and Turner. Geez whz.

[rollie mass]

look at rondo last season ,go watch some tapes -it was frightening,look at strides that have been made-i was as a player groomed by rollie massimino to play defense down and dirty man to man pressure d for 40 min-to this day i'm comfortable in that get down stance-i had a career ending knee injury so i know the pain of recovery and worse the inability to play again-the lateral movement ,the exposure of knee going over top of screens--i couldn't stop thinking of dave cowens diving across floor for loose balls and bird  going into the seats and rondo diving between legs steal-this defense comes with a price and i don't think rondo is ready to pay it -YET---and he shouldn't and shoudn't be expected too-YET-----look at the NBA ranks of injuries this year we don't need to add rondo to list-give him more time its early season-last year i thought he was finished  and i would never see rondo play like rondo again-

[Eddie20]

I have a problem investing heavy money on a soon to be 29 year-old. If he's allowing dribble penetration now, what will he look at on a 5 year deal between the ages of 29-34?

  All point guards allow dribble penetration.

Just like all point guards miss free throws...Rondo at a a higher rate than others in both though.

   Ok, so how high is Rondo's rate of allowing dribble penetration, and how does it compare to other point guards?

What do your eyes tell you?

  Pretty much that you make things up without having much of an idea (if any) whether they're true or not. I missed last night's game but I just watched much of it on the dvr, checking Rondo's defense. He spent most of the first half guarding Teague, who was largely ineffective. He rarely got into the lane, and mainly did off of picks. He beat Rondo off the dribble once to get into the lane. He got into the lane as often against Bradley as he did against Rondo, even though Rondo was covering him 3-4 times as much as Bradley was.

   The second half seemed similar. He got beat off the dribble a couple of times, and players he was guarding didn't get into the lane that often, and when they did it was generally off of picks. He didn't do any worse of a job of keeping the guy he was guarding out of the lane than any of the other Celts guards, or any of the Hawk guards. Overall I'd say that guys he was covering scored 4 or so baskets and players he switched off of on pick plays scored a couple more. He had some turnover issues, but his defense wasn't really a problem. It was worse earlier this year but it's been better recently.

  Again, though, how does that compare to other point guards? How often do players get into the lane when they play against Paul, Parker, Lowry or Deron? How many of those times are from picks, and how often do those guys get beat off the dribble? How about Conley, Curry or Lillard? I generally judge how well Rondo does in terms of allowing dribble penetration by comparing how often he gets into the lane to how often the guy he's guarding does, and on the occasion that I watch non-Celts games I just generally notice it in terms of the players doing overly well or poorly in defending their opponents.

I'm not referring to this game per say. I'm speaking to his defense today compared to where it was before. Clearly he's not a good defensive player now and gets best way too often. Maybe it's a lack of effort or some waning athleticism. Perhaps it's a combination of both. If you don't see it then you aren't being objective as to what you're watching (shocking since we're discussing Rondo) so it makes any argument with you a task simply not worth entertaining.

[GetLucky]

Dennis Schroder obliterated Rondo tonight. Made him look like a punk.

He had 15, 3, and 4 with 3 turnovers. Obliterated, huh?

NO ONE HAS EVER DONE THAT IN THE HISTORY OF BASKETBALL

I had a legitimate laugh out loud there. TP

[BballTim]

I have a problem investing heavy money on a soon to be 29 year-old. If he's allowing dribble penetration now, what will he look at on a 5 year deal between the ages of 29-34?

  All point guards allow dribble penetration.

Just like all point guards miss free throws...Rondo at a a higher rate than others in both though.

   Ok, so how high is Rondo's rate of allowing dribble penetration, and how does it compare to other point guards?

What do your eyes tell you?

  Pretty much that you make things up without having much of an idea (if any) whether they're true or not. I missed last night's game but I just watched much of it on the dvr, checking Rondo's defense. He spent most of the first half guarding Teague, who was largely ineffective. He rarely got into the lane, and mainly did off of picks. He beat Rondo off the dribble once to get into the lane. He got into the lane as often against Bradley as he did against Rondo, even though Rondo was covering him 3-4 times as much as Bradley was.

   The second half seemed similar. He got beat off the dribble a couple of times, and players he was guarding didn't get into the lane that often, and when they did it was generally off of picks. He didn't do any worse of a job of keeping the guy he was guarding out of the lane than any of the other Celts guards, or any of the Hawk guards. Overall I'd say that guys he was covering scored 4 or so baskets and players he switched off of on pick plays scored a couple more. He had some turnover issues, but his defense wasn't really a problem. It was worse earlier this year but it's been better recently.

  Again, though, how does that compare to other point guards? How often do players get into the lane when they play against Paul, Parker, Lowry or Deron? How many of those times are from picks, and how often do those guys get beat off the dribble? How about Conley, Curry or Lillard? I generally judge how well Rondo does in terms of allowing dribble penetration by comparing how often he gets into the lane to how often the guy he's guarding does, and on the occasion that I watch non-Celts games I just generally notice it in terms of the players doing overly well or poorly in defending their opponents.

I'm not referring to this game per say. I'm speaking to his defense today compared to where it was before. Clearly he's not a good defensive player now and gets best way too often. Maybe it's a lack of effort or some waning athleticism. Perhaps it's a combination of both. If you don't see it then you aren't being objective as to what you're watching (shocking since we're discussing Rondo) so it makes any argument with you a task simply not worth entertaining.

  Of course you're not referring to this game. You won't be referring to any game in particular until he has a poor one and then you'll talk about that being how he always plays. And it's true that Rondo's defense isn't as good now as it was when he had less offensive responsibility years ago, just like Bradley's was better when he was playing fewer minutes and doing less on offense. The same way that PP and Ray became better defenders when they joined together and had less responsibility on offense. That's hardly news. By the same token, though, it's nowhere near as bad as you claim it is. Nothing you've ever posted would lead me to believe that you should be lecturing on being objective. That's why you're not talking about the current game, despite Rondo spending most of his time guarding Teaque, who's near the top of the league in drives into the lane per game.

[D.o.s.]

Jeff Teague might have the most confusing driving style in the NBA. He's really fast but he moves the ball really, really, slowly.

[Tr1boy]

I watched some clips of the game and rondo looked like he was trying a bit harder. On one play a player drove by him but he didnt just stand there , ran back , jumped to try to block the shot and got a finger on the ball. I want to see more of this from Rondo

[Chief Macho]

Yeah,  the problem with this team is Rondo's average defense.  Not the roster full of scrubs and journeymen.
  And btw,  I've never seen a worse defensive low post duo than when Fatty and Hippy are out there.  It's pathetic.  Add Rondo being bored playing with these trade chips and you get, well,  you see what you get.

[billysan]

Just my opinion but I am much more concerned with Rondos inability to make a free throw than his defense. This makes Him an incomplete point guard even with all the assists. Too many points just wasted. His job is to create opportunities to score.

[BballTim]

I watched some clips of the game and rondo looked like he was trying a bit harder. On one play a player drove by him but he didnt just stand there , ran back , jumped to try to block the shot and got a finger on the ball. I want to see more of this from Rondo

  I think it's been better since the Phoenix game. Part of that may have been lack of effort, part of it may have been missing all of preseason but he's definitely been better since then.

[deekhead]

Yeah,  the problem with this team is Rondo's average defense.  Not the roster full of scrubs and journeymen.
  And btw,  I've never seen a worse defensive low post duo than when Fatty and Hippy are out there.  It's pathetic. Add Rondo being bored playing with these trade chips and you get, well,  you see what you get.

Rondo was frequently bored even when playing with the Big Three.

20 games into each  season and he was already bored, longing  for the PO's to begin.

When Rondo sneezes, the team catches a cold... every time.

The same with boredom.

Deek

[TwinTower14]

Just my opinion but I am much more concerned with Rondos inability to make a free throw than his defense. This makes Him an incomplete point guard even with all the assists. Too many points just wasted. His job is to create opportunities to score.

completely agree with this, he is such a liability on offense in the last few minutes of a game because of his free throw shooting.  He has the ability to get to the rim but he chooses not to because he isn't confident in his ability to knock down the freebies...